There are few things that piss me off more than a wishy-washy man. So it makes perfect sense that Iâ€™m growing more and more tired of Senator Joe Lieberman, the â€œIndependentâ€ of Connecticut who is holding health care reform hostage. Now Iâ€™d understand if he had always been against the provisions that heâ€™s currently opposing in the bill; at least then I could respect him for having a strong viewpoint and sticking with it. But from where Iâ€™m sitting, heâ€™s more indecisive than the dude I dated my last year of undergrad, and that, dear readers, is hard to do..
Last night, we learned that yet another major point of the Senate version of the bill is under serious fire. This particular provision was offered up as a compromise for the possible slaying of the public option. (Boooooo.) In it, people would be allowed to pay to enroll in Medicare at age 55, rather than waiting until they hit the current enrollment threshold of 65. Why did the Dems think this strategy would work? Because the so-called Medicare Buy-in plan was championed by Lieberman back in 2000, when he was running to be Al Goreâ€™s VP, again when he was being challenged for his seat in 2006, and then againjust this past September.

And just last Thursday he said he would possibly vote for the bill, pending a positive report from the Congressional Budget Office. But then, just in time for the Sunday political show circuit, he changed his mind: He is now promising to not only vote against any bill that includes the buy-in, but to filibuster said bill in an attempt to prevent anyone else from voting for it. (In an ironic twist, back when he was a Democrat, Liberman co-sponsored a bill that would curb use of the filibuster back in 1994.) Enough kowtowing to this little man already!

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Hi Kenrya,
I don’t know if I call him wishy-washy. I give him a lot of credit for becoming an ‘independent’ – and wish we had a viable third party – and get away from the drek that is this polarized two-party, antiquated, garbage we currently have to vote within. I don’t feel voting against something is what the founding fathers had in mind. But I digress…

Two things Lieberman is saying (quotes from CNN):
“I think the danger always is you try to add too much onto a bill,” he told reporters Monday evening. He said he supports the “core” of the bill, including tighter regulations on private insurers, but he wants Democrats to “take off some of this stuff that runs the risk of creating federal debt, and moves toward a government takeover of insurance, which I think would be bad.”

That says to me – that he’s being Independent and worries about the welfare nation we seem to be sliding into. NO ONE is saying how on earth we can pay for this. This is one of the reasons Hillary’s attempts failed.

And this:
Lieberman supported letting older workers buy into Medicare in 2000, when he was the Democratic vice presidential candidate, and as recently as September in comments to a Connecticut newspaper. But he said Monday that the idea was “no longer necessary,” since the Senate bill includes subsidies to help people 55 and older buy insurance coverage before they become eligible for Medicare.

You might not agree, but he does have reasons for why he’s doing what he’s doing.

As for the fat-cat lobbyists: they run the show. Another reason to rid ourselves of the standard two-party system. It’s broken. It needs fixing. But wait – why would they [congress and senate folk] do that when their pensions exceed their base salaries? They don’t need healthcare they’re formulating because they have a better system.

Yes, whatever is voted in will be a compromise. Watered down. Not what we need. And will cost 100x more than what they say. This is what the government does with everything. And this is why we’re going down the drain – economically, politically, and globally.

OK, it’s a Tuesday that feels like a Monday, and I’m mad. I’m mad that people don’t ‘get it.’ I’m mad that people will not take a stand – but they’ll whine. I’m mad that there are folks purposely defaulting on their stupid mortgages that should never have been available (interest only, negative amortization, etc…) only to rent next door and have money to spend on Disney park season tix, Porsches, and eating out.

Americans aren’t learning.

Oh wait, isn’t this supposed to be the season of great joy and peace?

Tahad

Holding your breath will not work, I suggest investing in a good air tank because when we go down, we won’t be coming back up. Thanks to the private corporation called the united states of America.